A former Jewish home for the aged, which the Nazis had converted into a home for “Bund Deutscher Meadchen,” has been returned to the Jewish community by the Russian military authorities and is now serving as a rehabilitation center for Jews passing through Berlin en route to their home countries from concentration camps.
This correspondent, today, visited the center, which looks hardly inhabitable from the outside, and, in fact, rain was penetrating several of the rooms occupied by haggard, under-nourished looking people whose sufferings of the past few years are deeply engraved upon their faces. They were Jews from France, Hungary, Rumania, Greece, Poland, and from other parts of Europe.
The refugees are given food and lodging in the center for only two days, officially, since the Berlin city welfare office. pays for their support only for that length of time, apparently assuming that after two days’ rest they can proceed on their journey. Actually, however, they stay as long as they require, usually for periods ranging from two to six weeks.
Jacob Gutfeld, a survivor of Dachau, who is in charge of the center, said that not very much can be done for those stopping there, because the ration soale allotted to the home is very low, under the Russian ruling that only political, and not racial, victims of Nazi oppression are to be given special rations of food and clothing.
The center, Gutfeld said, is not able to provide new clothes for the ragged refugees as none are available, but two repair shops have been set up where torn clothing is mended and worn shoes repaired. The center also lacks supplies of linens and blankets.
Gutfeld appealed to the Jews of the United States and Britain to send food, clothing and other relief supplies as soon as possible.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
